The Eldest Evans Sister and the Letter to Dumbledore
by queengenie
Summary: A one-shot involving Petunia's feelings towards her younger sister and a letter to Dumbledore.


The Eldest Evans Sister and the Letter to Dumbledore

A/N: Just a one-shot about Petunia's childhood and her feelings towards her older sister, Lily. Enjoy and thank you for reading!

Petunia Evans would never be as special as Lily Evans—and her parents made sure she knew it. In the morning, when she had just woken up and all she wanted was a nice, quiet breakfast mind you very much, Lily would spin her mother's best teacups in the air, making them loop round and round and soar ever higher. Her mother, instead of having the good sense to make Lily stop, would instead clap her hands and praise her. On occasion, their father would echo Mrs. Evan's sentiment for more tricks. Once Petunia had tried to juggle some teacups, in an attempt to make her mother see that she had talent too, but they had merely smashed all over the floor and earned her a scolding for her efforts.

In the afternoon, when all Petunia wanted was to relax in her room with a book or two or three, for she loved to read, Lily would gather up flowers from the garden and make their petals twirl and even change color. All of those colors made Petunia feel sick. Naturally, this bizarre, freakish talent of hers inspired only praise from her parents. Didn't they realize that Lily was dangerous? What if the neighbors found out? Or the police? Petunia often wished that the police would drag Lily away and put her in an institution for freaks. On one occasion, she had tried to warn her sister that the outside world did not take kindly to those who were abnormal, but of course Lily just laughed in her face.

Perhaps Petunia wouldn't have minded her sister's talents so much if she had had magic of her own. But, despite all of her efforts, one of which included drinking a concoction of catsup and garlic, she remained ordinary. Maybe if the both of them had magical abilities, then she could have joined Lily in her festivities, but it wasn't meant to be.

It wasn't fair, not really. Lily got everything. From her gorgeous red hair, to her penchant for telling jokes, to her marvelous grades and rebellious spirit, Lily could make friends with any girl and make any boy fall in love with her. And speaking of boys, the neighbor boy, Snape, was always creeping around and those two spent a great deal of time with each other. At least I have common sense, thought Petunia to herself on more than one occasion.

And then, on Lily's eleventh birthday, everything changed. Just as she finished blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, a man came barging through the door, claiming to be from the Ministry of Magic. He had brought with him a letter from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and claimed that it was customary to have a wizard or witch explain all about magic to Muggle-borns and their parents. Naturally, both of Lily's parents were delighted and couldn't wait to have their daughter shipped off to God-knows-where and improve her magic skills.

Petunia found out that the neighbor boy would be going with Lily. Typical. Something was wrong with him as well. "Isn't this exciting?" sang out Lily. "I can't wait to go!" Seeing the dour expression upon her sister's face she attempted to console her. "It's all right, Petunia," she said. "You can come as well! Just write the headmaster and I'm sure he'll let you in!" And so she did. But how do you convey that you matter, that you're just as special as your sister who has magical powers and beauty and confidence, on paper? How can you make a stranger see that when your own parents don't even see it?

Petunia wrote five drafts of the letter before she was satisfied. She even typed it up on her mother's new typewriter, in the hopes that such a professional looking letter would inspire Dumbledore to let her attend the school. She considered having her parents proof-read the letter, but thought better of it. They didn't need to know about it. Instead, Petunia decided to ask her mother a question.

"Mother?"

"Yes dear? What's the matter?" Petunia had her hands clenched into fists and was very red in the face.

"Do I have talents?" At this, her mother raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you do dear. You're a wonderful writer. Why you're teacher informs me you write the best essays in the class. What's brought this up?"

"Nothing," said Petunia. "Just wondering." And she ran off to her room. Mrs. Evans shook her head. Her eldest daughter could be so strange at times.

Petunia recited in her head what her mother had said, word for word. She could write. She would show Dumbledore. She had to, to prove that she mattered just as much as Lily did. And she began to write a new draft of the letter:

_Dear Headmaster Dumbledore, _

_My name is Petunia Evans and I am the older sister of Lily Evans, a witch who was just admitted to your school, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. From what I understand, only those with magical powers are allowed into your academy. However, could you make an exception for me? I am a very hard worker and I would be willing to do anything to attend your school. I could even work there part time and help with cleaning or cooking, if you are in need of manual labor. I have excellent marks in all of my classes and I am sure that my academic skills would prove a great asset to Hogwarts. It's very important that I go to school here. My parents would be so proud of me and it would be a great credit to my family to have two witches. _

_Sincerely, _

_Petunia Evans. _

With the letter, Petunia attached a copy of her report card, two essays she had written on King Charles I for school, and a ribbon she had gotten for winning the spelling bee. She ran to the post office and mailed the package with her own allowance. Thankfully, the representative had given the Evans family an address to write to where all mail would be forwarded to the Wizarding World, until they were able to purchase an owl to deliver mail for them. Petunia didn't have to wait long for a response to her letter. In only three days, she heard back from Dumbledore. He had written a rather long letter in response, telling her that he found her grades extraordinary, her essays exemplary, and her ribbon well-deserved. He told her she was brilliant and that any young person who could write well and worked hard in school had a bright future ahead of her indeed. He even told her that having the courage to ask for what you want in a polite way was a skill sorely lacking in both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds and that there ought to be more people like her. Petunia's heart began to beat faster and faster. Dumbledore was impressed with her, that much was certain. Her hands began to shake and she flipped the next page over, to see what he had to say about her entry to the school.

As fast as her hopes had risen, they were dashed even faster when she found out that she hadn't gotten in. It was the school's mission to educate only witches and wizards. The last line of the letter struck Petunia as particularly cruel: _You are a very intelligent and persistent young woman, Petunia—I know that no matter where you end up in life, you will find success, and that is something that would happen whether you were a witch or not. _

Petunia threw the letter against the wall and then ripped it up into shreds, stomped on it, and threw it out the window. Curse that man! How dare he get her hopes up and praise her, only to tell her she didn't get it, that she wasn't good enough? What was so great about magic that those freaks got their very own school anyhow? Wasn't that discrimination against Muggles? And what good was Lily's talent for spinning the petals of flowers around making teacups float anyhow? That wasn't a marketable skill in today's job market! It was just worthless.

That night, Petunia cried herself to sleep. The next morning, on Petunia's desk, she found a flower, a daisy. But instead of having white petals, it had red ones. A note lay beside it. It read:

_Dear Petunia Evans, _

_I have sent you this flower to keep you company while your sister is away at school. I know an unusual daisy is no substitute for a sister, but unlike other daisies, this flower will never wilt. It doesn't even need water. It is my hope this flower will remind you that you are special and that England is a far better place with a talented, young person such as yourself. _

_-Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. _

For a split second, Petunia thought of smashing the flower as well. He probably only sent it so she wouldn't report his school of freaks to the police. And yet, she found that she couldn't get rid of it. Something about the flower made her feel better. Not a lot better mind you. Certainly not better enough to ever forgive her sister or her parents. She could never ignore such freakishness. Petunia nodded her head, in silent agreement with Dumbledore. She did matter and she did have talent—and more importantly, she wasn't a freak. And with that, she put the flower on her bedside table and headed out to start the day.

A/N: Once again, thank you for reading this. I took a bit of liberty with the story and added the flower part to it. I felt like Dumbledore would do his best to let Petunia know that she did matter, even if Petunia couldn't quite see it.


End file.
